Wantable is a monthly subscription service for makeup or accessories that are "curated just for you"! While there are other beauty boxes that claim to acknowledge your preferences, I really appreciate that Wantable really gives you the opportunity to pinpoint what sort of products you like (or you can just skip these steps and get a generalized box). Check it out:

And then you go into further detail!!! For example, here are your eyeshadow options:

Each makeup box promises to have 4-6 full sized products. So here was what was in my Wantable box:

The products totally fell within my desired product criteria, which was great. How I felt about Wantable boxes as a subscription service in general:

PROS:

Much, much more customized than most subscription beauty boxes.

You get several full-sized products, instead of primarily samples or deluxe samples.

Good products (but nothing standout).

CONS:

On the more expensive side ($40 for a single box, $36 for a subscription).

COULD GO EITHER WAY:

Not the typical brands that you'd find at Sephora/Ulta.

In terms of the specific products I received in this particular box--the quality of the products was generally good, but not AH-MAY-ZING. The August Wantable box products are definitely products that I don't mind having in my makeup bag, but I didn't find anything to be particularly rave-worthy.

If you're interested in knowing what products I used for zombie look, read on! :)

Saturday, I did Run 2 Survive zombie run and was voted Best Female Zombie!!! I'm pretty proud. When I signed up for the race, it didn't even cross my mind that I'd compete for best zombie makeup/outfit--I just wanted to challenge myself to do theatrical makeup, since I haven't ever done it before! GO BIG OR GO HOME!!! haha...

Anyway, here's how I wound up zombified:

Inspiration

I spent a lot of time looking at pictures and finding tutorials on doing zombie makeup because I wanted to figure out what characteristics were really essential for a good zombie makeover. These were some of my favorite tutorials:

BLOOD: zombie blood is gross and dark, because they're dead. So anything oozing out of you should look like that. But if you just fed on a human, the blood on your mouth and hands and splattered on you is probably nice and bright red. Fake blood looks fake.

Veins on temples/neck

Reddish purple around eyes

Creepy eyes: use contact lenses. You can try to get out of it, but this is essential for a realistic zombie look. White, yellow, whatever, you'll want to get them.

My supplies

I didn't want to just use ANYTHING--I wanted legit theatrical makeup that would look the same after a 5k. I spent about $50 (I had an Amazon giftcard--I wouldn't normally spend that kind of money on costume makeup!!!).

I know you really shouldn't wear colored contacts that you bought off the internet... but since it was JUST for the race, I decided to do it anyway. These did irritate my eyes a little bit (I wore them on top of my prescription contacts... SHHH don't tell my eye doctor!!!). And they did blur my peripheral vision a bit, so I didn't pop them in until I arrived at the race, and then I took them out once it was done.

Expensive but it worked great in combination with the yellow/brown shade!!

Step by Step...

First, I started off with clean skin and dry hair.

Then, I worked on getting my hair all matted by applying lots of leave-in conditioner and some dry shampoo.

I shredded up some old clothes with scissors and rubbed some MAC cream color in a dirt brown shade onto them.

I warmed up the 3D effects gel in a bowl of warm water and started applying it to my face, neck and chest with my fingers.

Using my fingers, I started to pick at the 3D gel to create open wounds, and then applied the brick red Mehron cream makeup inside using a pointed Q-tip. I added a little black too. I started to get a little grossed out haha.

Then, I applied the zombie flesh color mixed with a pale shade of MAC cream color, and then applied both shades of Tooth F/X. The tooth FX stuff is cool--you just dry off your teeth, paint it on, and then it stays there until you brush your teeth! (you can easily scratch it off with your fingernail).

Then I did some shading to try and make myself look zombie like--I used brown and black to contour my cheekbones, collarbones, and around my eyes. I also added some red around my eyes to make me look sick and infected.

I threw on some fake blood. Both kinds were the consistency of corn syrup and didn't really DRY, they just kind of got stickier. The color was great--nice and dark, but I tried splattering it onto myself using a brush and that didn't work very well. Also, the blood didn't seem to quite stick to my skin and the 3D gel stuff--probably because I forgot to put on the setting powder!

And lastly, the contacts! They really completed the look--a lot of people didn't even recognize me! haha

Next time I do zombie makeup, I'll use setting powder, add more black around my lips, darken around my eyes a little more, make my skin more mottled/textured, and do bigger and more elaborate skin effects. I do think that the 3D gel and/or the cream color made me break out a little, so next time I'll make sure to be a little more generous with the makeup remover afterwards!!!

Before and after, side by side!

I'm not a makeup artist, I didn't practice this with all of this stuff, and it took me about two hours. I would love to try this again!!! :D Have you ever dressed up as a zombie?

KLUTCHclub is definitely raising the bar for monthly subscription services. Every month, KLUTCHclub delivers a shoebox sized package crammed full of health-related products centered around a theme (for example: "Spring Clean Your Body [Defrost and Detox]" and "Healthy Summer Entertaining [Impress Your Guests as a Healthy Hostess]"), for just $16-18 per month. That's really reasonable. AND a preview of each month's box is available on the website, so you can take a look beforeyou buy. And there's a product guide explaining what each product is, why they chose it, how to use it, and where to buy it.

TotalBeauty offered to send me their TotalBeauty Collection for HSN to review before it was even available for purchase, so of course I giddily accepted. (I totally felt like one of the cool kids on the block...)

Beautybox5 offered to send me this month's Beautybox to review. I've been hearing about various subscription services for beauty products for awhile, but hadn't actually tried any, so I was pretty excited to test it out!

Here's a quick excerpt about Beautybox5, taken from their website:

"Once a month, we deliver a Beauty Box with four or five handpicked samples directly to your doorstep. Your Beauty Box will contain items like makeup, skin care products, hair care products, fragrances and a few other surprises! Learn more about your samples on our site! You can see exactly what other beauty lovers are saying about the products. Plus, you’ll find special how-tos and beauty tips right at your fingertips. We think you’re going to love your samples! If you just have to have more, you can purchase products directly from us, or from our partners. Sounds good? Well, here’s the bonus: share BB5 with five of your friends and earn a free one-month subscription! Just head to the Sharing Is Caring page!"

I've already reviewed Red Apple Lipstick brand lipstick, and also their lip pencils, and now, on to the lipgloss ($18.50)! As with the lipstick and lipliners, these glosses are gluten-free, paraben-free, allergen-free, soy-free, cruelty-free, and vegan! I tried three shades from their regular line, Amor Caliente, Bridesmaid, and Metropolis.

Amor Caliente is a shiny candy apple red with a nice shimmery sheen to it. It has medium-pigmentation. Bridesmaid is a lightly pigmented hot pink with lots of sparkle. Metropolis is a nude-pink with a shimmery sheen, low-medium pigmentation.

I love these. The formula is great--really smooth, not too thick and not too thin. The color stays for a decent amount of time, but it moisturizes for hours. These only have a faint fragrance--I can't quite place what it is, but I don't mind it at all, and I'm quite picky about how my makeup smells. I love the large sponge applicator, and I love that you can easily see the color, and how much product remains. The packaging is a tad bit bigger than the average gloss. The biggest drawback is the price. But considering the quality, I'd say it's worth it. AAAAANNNNNDDDD when you participate in their lipstick exchange, you can get them for only $11.99 (be sure to check out the details).

These are awesome. It's pretty tough to impress me when it comes to lip gloss, and I had honestly been pretty skeptical that these lipglosses would compare with department store products, but they absolutely hold their own! It'd be great to see more colors added to the line, especially some highly pigmented pinks or corals! I'm also pretty eager to try the new Peppermints lipglosses, since I love minty glosses.

Check out my first review of Red Apple Lipstick here, if you haven't already! All of the Red Apple products are gluten-free, soy-free, paraben-free, cruelty-free, allergen-free, and vegan. And the quality is fabulous.

Red Apple Lipstick recently released their first lip pencils ($20 regular price, currently on sale for $12.50!!). While these products are new to their line, the quality is fabulous.

These colors are super wearable, especially Brick and Mocha. Chocolate is a little too brown for my preference, but it's still quite pretty. The texture is fairly smooth, they're easy to sharpen, and the pigmentation is nice. I find that they last fairly long for me also, although as with all lipliners, they do tend to wear off slightly faster in the middle compared to the edges of my lips. There's no fragrance to these either, which I appreciate. I'm not typically a huge fan of lip pencils, but these are just plain practical to have on hand. My only complaint is that the regular price is a tad bit high, but they're great quality, and for $12.50 (currently on sale), they're a steal!

You don't have to have a gluten sensitivity to use Red Apple Lipstick products! If you like quality makeup, especially quality makeup without tons of added crap, then you should take a look at Red Apple, because their lipsticks, lip liners, lip glosses and balm are simply awesome. And all of their products are also paraben-free, allergen-free, soy-free, cruelty-free, and vegan!

When founder and president Jay Harper offered to send me a bunch of products to try out, I was excited, but I will admit that I was a little skeptical--that's a lot of things to keep out of the products! will the quality be the same as regular lipstick? will it smell weird? will it feel weird? But the products he sent me blew my mind. Today, we'll look at the lipsticks!

Check out those beauties! The Rallye balm ($19.50, sale price $15.00) is fragrance-free, sheer balm with SPF 8 that moisturizes and protects lips. The three lipsticks are on the right ($17.50 each). Ruby Slippers is a pretty shimmery sheer pinkish red. Not frosty, just pretty! Strawberry Lipsis a sheer brick red. Red! is a true blue-based red. It's more pigmented than the other two, and will leave a nice stain on your lips.

I'm not a huge lipstick person, but I really like these. Although applying Red! takes a little precision, the other two shades can easily be applied without a mirror, which makes them just as handy as my usual lip gloss. AND, unlike a lot of lipsticks, they're nicely moisturizing, they're long lasting, and the pigmentation is totally buildable! Although the price is mid-range (comparable to department store products), and the packaging could be a little fancier, I'm super happy with these lipsticks and would definitely consider buying additional shades. And there are frequently deals (discounts for signing up for their newsletter, or for doing their lipstick exchange!)They guarantee 100% satisfaction too :)

Any way you look at it, these lipsticks are FABULOUS for everyone, gluten-intolerant or not. I'll also be reviewing their glosses and lip liners soon :)

I kind of wish I had an awesome sister with whom I could co-found a makeup business... And while I don’t have any sisters, I can live vicariously through the founders of SweetPea & Fay, Katrina and Amanda. This duo created a 100% natural, hand-crafted makeup line using their knowledge as a licensed skin care therapist and as a makeup artist. Their focus is on professional quality makeup that’s affordable and free of harmful ingredients, as well as being cruelty free.

I love that there are swatches of every shade of eye shadow on their website! It's really helpful, especially for mineral eye shadows, which tend to be more variable than regular eye shadows when comparing the appearance of the product in the pan/jar to the swatch. They're really affordable and pretty decent in terms of texture and pigmentation. For me, they have pretty standard length of wear, and with a primer they last all day. I like that these shadows come in a sifter jar--that makes them slightly less messy compared to other mineral shadow.

These are great tinted lip balms. They have a faint vanilla scent and come in clear plastic mini tubes--all details that I like. Crop Circles really didn't look good on me, and Apparition was a touch frosty for my skin tone, but I loooooove Ghost of Petra. The color is gorgeous and can easily be built up by layering on the balm, and it also leaves your lips with a nice stain. The price is pretty good as well.

I know this is months after the release date, but I just had to review it! This is one of my absolute favorite MAC collections. I love the fun packaging, the oversized products, and the colors. While the quality of most of the products is average for MAC makeup, I definitely think there are plenty of items worth buying (and even buying backups)!

Where can you find these? Believe it or not, more than a dozen items from this collection are still available on MAC's website. You can also find a few items on Nordstrom.com, Bloomingdales.com, and Macys.com. Or if you can snatch up a few items in store, you should!

Here's what I have (thanks to my boyfriend, who surprised me with these on Valentine's Day):